Actually there is a lot of bad information on this site... Which is understandable as there are only about 10 billion flooring options on the market. AO and Daltile's subway tile is made at the same mill. I even had to call the mill checking on AO subway tile for a customer once and the person answered the phone "Daltile". Both AO and Daltile are part of the Mohawk name brand and I have been told by my distributor that AO and Daltile subway tile are actually the same exact product. After looking at samples of both, I would have to say they do look the same. Lowes and Home Depot sale SOME of the same tile that you will find at your local dealers. While manufacturers do make some extremely low quality tile for HD and Lowes, HD and Lowes also like to rename things. So sometimes if you find it at Lowes or HD you can find the same product elsewhere at your local tile store under a different name. Buying tile online - the truth. There are companies online that sell flooring products. Depending on the size of your order, and the company with which you are looking at, it may not be cost effective. While there are not many good online companies, there are some out there that will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars off of your local prices. I buy from only one online dealer and I save a good bit even though I buy direct from the manufacturer. I then sell that material to my customer for profit even though they could have bought online for the same price I did. But then again, if I didn't buy from the online guy I would be out of business. I have never heard of an online company requiring you to have a fork lift before... I've had several dropped off to my customers' curbside no problem. The particular company I buy from online actually has told me they sell tile to HD and Lowes a lot. People go into HD or Lowes, place an order for their tile, HD or Lowes then goes and buys it from this online company, and then resales it to the customer. Kind of funny how that works sometimes, but then if I am getting better pricing from them than my local guy I guess HD and Lowes is in the same boat. The best bet is to CALL the online company and talk to them. Read their reviews... Check their BBB rating. Make sure they are selling first grade material AND that warranties are offered with their products. A LOT of online companies don't get warranties with their products, I know of only ONE which does and that is the one I buy from. If they don't have 3rd party reviews, a good rating with the BBB, or they are not willing to answer your call or return it, then I would suggest not doing business with them. I'm not giving away where I shop as I don't want my customers knowing where I buy my material, but I promise you there are good companies out there.

Wow,, am I glad I checked this thread. First-- Metro is annother tile company. I'm pretty sure instead of having lugs on the sides of the tiles like Dal's, it has a raised ridge that runs the whole perimeter of the tile, but does the exact same thing. As for HD, they have the very same Daltile, but they also have U.S. Ceramics, as well. Also not a bad tile. Secondly, as for matte vs brite glaze, there's no difference in maintanence. The only difference, pretty much is your taste. Third, the only problem I forsee with respect to hanging the Durock is that any time I've hung cement board where plaster was, the studs never seem to be in good alignment. But that's not a big deal. They can either be hand planed or shimmed, as needed. Other than that, it's a piece of cake. Lastly, DO NNOT take those HD classes. I sat in on one and tore the instructor to bits, to the point that he was ready to have me removed from the store. Those classes are a joke. If you want the real deal information, as well as a BUNCH of pros to pretty much hold your hand through the whole thing, go to John BRidge's forum. the link's below. They (we) won't steer you wrong. Here is a link that might be useful: John Bridge's Tile Advice Forum

I just want to update for 2019 and say that Marazzi has moved to new ownership recently, and I've seen reviews around the web about people complaining that there is an increased grayish tint to some of the tiles with more recent production beginning around 2018. @bill_vincent stated back in 2009 in a previous comment in this thread that the Marazzi tile he'd used wasn't always square, but we had tile layers this year who recommended it as a good-quality tile, so your mileage may vary. Upon visiting a Marazzi showroom in my area, I was very impressed with the variety and style of the tile on display. Thanks for all the comments here on Florida Tile. I believe I'll avoid it based on these reviews. We used Italian-made Happy Floors tile for a recent master bathroom project and are pleased with it. The installers said it was very square, and the style we chose was a through-body porcelain. Every word-of-mouth recommendation and online review I've read about USA-made Crossville tile has been good. Apparently they have a strict system of quality control. The one complaint is that it can be expensive compared to similar tile in other lines. However, the finish coating on some of Crossville's products is supposedly high-tech to make it more cleanable and long-lasting, so maybe it would be worth it. We've found that our area ProSource seems to offer the best price on Crossville and runs periodic sales on it. Note that there is more than one tile company with the name "Crossville," referencing the location of the city of Crossville, Tennessee, where these companies are located, but I'm talking about Crossville Inc. also known as Crossville Studios. It appears that Dal-Tile's quality is across the board and varies from style to style. Thanks everyone for the input.

When we redid our kitchen and laundry room backsplashes I wanted the plainest possible subway tile--- no pillow cut or any other extra element that might date it. We bought the American Olean tile from Lowe's for the off white color, as I wanted larger grout lines with a putty colored grout. The tile was $0.26 per piece! I think the chair rail pieces were something like $3.00 per piece--- it was one of the most cost effective projects in history. I looked at every permutation of white 4" x 6" subway tile out there at all price points and ended up with the cheapest for aesthetic reasons----it looked just like the unadorned subway tile in the Biltmore House kitchens :-) I would redo every bathroom in our house with the stuff if I had any more projects in me (I don't!) When we did the bathroom on the downstairs level I used the smaller size subway tile from American Olean, with the same chair rail pieces, all from Lowe's. We already had a brick floor In the standard size; the smaller tiles were a perfect substitute so that everything wasn't the same shape AND size. (The smaller ones come on a mesh backing in roughly a foot square and are ridiculously easy to install.) This post was edited by kswl on Tue, Aug 5, 14 at 7:03